The University of Dayton is home to the First Four participants of March Madness. Even if the Dayton Flyers are one of those teams.

Today’s bracket update includes this very scenario, as the Flyers are the final at-large team in the projected Field of 68. They are matched against Tennessee in one First Four pairing; Baylor and Providence square off in the other grouping. Given the overall bubble picture, it’s hard to ignore Baylor’s non-conference wins over Colorado (when the Buffaloes were at full strength) and Kentucky. Plus, the Bears’ are riding a three-game winning streak. If we’ve learned anything, though, it’s that the bubble picture changes quickly. Case in point: Baylor visits West Virginia and Texas in its next two games and the Bears have not thrived away from home. Dayton also has a closing schedule that can help or hinder their NCAA chances. It starts with trips to Duquesne and Saint Joseph’s.

No changes today on the No. 1 seed line despite Syracuse’s unexpected home loss to Boston College. We’ll see how the Orange respond at Duke on Saturday night. It should be a game where two feisty teams try to undo an unpleasant result (the Blue Devils are coming off a defeat at rival North Carolina on Thursday).

One housekeeping note … BYU is a true 11-seed after beating Gonzaga. However, accommodating BYU’s bracketing requirements (Thursday-Saturday sites only) forced the Cougars down a seed line (12-seed in South Region). The projected good news: they open in Spokane.

Enjoy a stellar weekend of college hoops.

UPDATED: February 21, 2014

Teams in CAPS represent the projected AUTOMATIC bid based on current standings with RPI as a tiebreaker for teams with the same number of losses. Exceptions are made for teams that use an abbreviation (UCLA, BYU, etc).

Several new bracketing principles were introduced after last year’s tournament. You can read them for yourself at http://www.ncaa.com. For example: teams from the same conference may now meet before a Regional final, even if fewer than eight teams are selected. The goal is to keep as many teams as possible on their actual seed line.

FIRST FOUR PAIRINGS – Dayton (First Round)

Tennessee vs. Dayton | Midwest Region

Baylor vs. Providence | East Region

ALABAMA STATE vs. UTAH VALLEY | Midwest Region

WEBER STATE vs. HIGH POINT | East Region

BRACKET PROJECTION …

EAST – New York

SOUTH – Memphis

Buffalo

Orlando

1) SYRACUSE

1) FLORIDA

16) WEBER STATE / HIGH POINT

16) DAVIDSON

8) Kansas State

8) George Washington

9) Stanford

9) Colorado

San Diego

Spokane

5) Kentucky

5) UCLA

12) GREEN BAY

12) BYU

4) SAINT LOUIS

4) Iowa State

13) MIDDLE TENNESSEE

13) MERCER

Raleigh

Raleigh

6) North Carolina

6) Iowa

11) Providence / Baylor

11) Saint Joseph’s

3) MICHIGAN

3) CINCINNATI

14) GEORGIA STATE

14) S.F. AUSTIN

Milwaukee

Milwaukee

7) New Mexico

7) Pittsburgh

10) SMU

10) Xavier

2) CREIGHTON

2) Michigan State

15) VERMONT

15) NC-CENTRAL

MIDWEST – Indianapolis

WEST – Anaheim

St. Louis

San Diego

1) WICHITA STATE

1) ARIZONA

16) UTAH VALLEY / ALABAMA ST

16) ROBERT MORRIS

8) Memphis

8) GONZAGA

9) Arizona State

9) VCU

Spokane

Orlando

5) Texas

5) Ohio State

12) NORTH DAKOTA ST

12) BELMONT

4) Virginia

4) Duke

13) IONA

13) DELAWARE

Buffalo

San Antonio

6) Connecticut

6) Louisville

11) Tennessee / Dayton

11) St. John’s

3) Villanova

3) Wisconsin

14) WESTERN MICHIGAN

14) UC-IRVINE

St. Louis

San Antonio

7) Massachusetts

7) Oklahoma

10) Missouri

10) California

2) KANSAS

2) SAN DIEGO ST

15) BOSTON UNIVERSITY

15) YALE

NOTES on the BRACKET: Syracuse is the overall No. 1 seed followed by Florida, Arizona, and Wichita State.

Philliesblow, im a michigan fan, and id have no problem being a 3 seed and winning the big ten. This conference is a bunch of mediocre teams duking it out. I dont think any big ten team should be above a 3 seed

Its funny but if the major conference seperate, would they expect to participate in the tourney where better teams from non football conferences are fighting to get in. The pac and the big 12 are the only highly competitive basketball conferences this year of the six no five major conferences. The atlantic ten (6) AAC (5) and the new/old big east (6). arguably more competitive than the big, acc and especially the sec.